This invention relates to barbell-type exercising devices and, more particulary, to rest brackets for preventing injury to a fatigued user of a barbell-type exerciser.
The weighted barbell is perhaps the most basic and familiar of all weight-training exercise devices. Many different types of exercises can be performed using a barbell. These include bench presses (with the user lying on his back), standing presses (with the user standing upright) and squats (with the barbell held stationary at shoulder level). Often, these exercises are performed in conjunction with stationary exercise frames which include cradles or the like for holding the barbell at an initial position. For example, barbell uprights having cradles at their upper ends often are designed as integral parts of exercise benches, wherein the user will lie on his back between the uprights, remove the bar from the cradles, and commence raising and lowering the barbell. Other examples include taller upright frames having barbell cradles at a higher position from which the user removes the barbell for performing standing presses or squats.
In any of these exercise devices having uprights adjacent which the barbell is raised and lowered, there exists the possibility that a fatigued exerciser will lack sufficient strength to return the barbell to the cradles at the initial position adjacent the uppermost limit of travel. In order to prevent injury to the user, spotters often assist the user. However, in situations where additional personnel are not available to perform a spotting function, auxiliary barbell brackets or cradles may be positioned on the uprights at a small distance above the lowermost position of the barbell during exercise. Thus, if the fatigued user lacks the strength to raise the barbell to its initial height, he should at least be able to raise it slightly to the height of the auxiliary cradles and deposit it there to prevent injury to himself from the heavy barbell.
The problem with auxiliary barbell brackets or cradles is that they protrude far enough from the uprights to often interfere with exercising movement of the barbell. This can be an annoyance at the very least, and a potential danger in that it can upset the balance of the user and cause him considerable strain or, in the worst case, cause him to drop the barbell on himself. A significant need therefore exists in exercising equipment of this type for a barbell rest bracket or cradle arrangement which will not interfere with normal exercising movement of the barbell, but which reliably will catch and support a barbell when desired.